Strategic Doing and the PROSPER Program Delivery System: A Case Study of the Translational Research Process

This article summarizes a project focused on the PROSPER program delivery system as a formal vehicle for addressing substance misuse and abuse in Ohio communities. Promoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) is a nationally recognized, evidence-based program delivery system designed to implement prevention programming provided by a partnership among local schools and communities, the university-based Cooperative Extension system, and state leadership. A case study is presented that describes a midproject effort to develop strategies for advancing PROSPER goals through a process called "strategic doing." Strategic doing brings partners together to develop strong collaborations that achieve highly desired outcomes. The case study is an example of a formal effort to translate scientific knowledge into applications that address real-life problems. Implications for translational research are discussed.